Why do prisons need to introduce jammers?

Jamming technology has evolved, as have inmates' efforts to smuggle in the devices. Such tests, she said, could lead to the broader use of technologies like jamming inside prisons to immobilize inmate phones, which officials across the country have described as their No. 1 security threat. This has become the biggest problem of prison management.

As much as jails and prisons try to keep out cell phones through sophisticated metal detectors, inmates keep figuring out a way to smuggle them in. Experts say the only way to keep inmates from using them to conduct criminal activity is through cell phone jamming technology in state and local corrections facilities.

Prison gsm jammer have become a necessary addition to the arsenal of tools required for the safekeeping of inmates. Cell phones are becoming smaller every day, making them easier for inmates smuggle into facilities. This creates an even more difficult job for the already burdened correctional worker, however a cell phone jammer is the answer to restricting the inmates from using the cell phones for potentially dangerous activities.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), in collaboration with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission, conducted a test of micro-jamming technology at the Federal Correctional Institution at Cumberland, Maryland. The test was conducted to determine if micro-jamming could prevent wireless communication by an inmate using a contraband device at the individual cell housing unit level.

NTIA conducted an independent evaluation of micro-jamming technology to determine its efficacy and interference potential with Radio Frequency communications. The BOP and NTIA will review the data and analysis results from both BOP’s and NTIA’s testing and develop recommendations for strategic planning and possible acquisition.

Next week, the department will begin testing a “micro-jamming” system to evaluate whether such technology can be used to halt inmates’ calls without disrupting services in the surrounding area, including those used by first responders.

Stopping drones is difficult. “Technological solutions to detect and disrupt drones are in their infancy,” Rosenstein said, adding that the Justice Department supports regulatory changes that would make it easier to deploy interdiction technology and cellphone jamming.

According to a statement, the Federal Bureau of Prisons tested the “micro-jamming” technology at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland. Officials wanted to test whether the system could jam a device in a specific cell.

Canada, like many countries, has a prison contraband problem. Its inmates are sneaking in cell phones at an increasing rate, so, to stop them from running crime rings from the inside, the country is thinking about using cell phone jammers in its correctional facilities.

Documents obtained by Motherboard under the Access to Information Act suggest Correctional Service Canada looked into the use of cell phone jamming technologies in March 2012, after the agency reported over 200 illegal cell phones being confiscated from federal prisons in three years.